First Impressions, Second Round
by Xenia007
Summary: Sherlock Holmes may need to re-assess his view of an old acquaintance. This is set pre-movie, about a year after the events in "A Scandal in Bohemia" Sherlock Holmes/Irene Adler *LAST CHAPTER ADDED - STORY COMPLETE*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine, I am not benefiting from this in any way. Though if somebody were to offer me RDJ on a silver platter, I would certainly not refuse. On second thought, don't even bother with the silver, any platter will do just fine! :)

**First Impressions, Second Round**

Breakfast at 221B Baker Street was a quiet affair.

Watson was reading the newspaper, while Holmes was absent-mindedly playing with his food, chin in hand, staring vacantly at his plate.

The doctor glanced over the edge of the newspaper, noting that Holmes had been slipping into one of his depressions again.  
He had not shaven or bathed in several days, his hair was a mess, and beneath his old dressing gown his clothes were rumpled and stained.  
Miraculously, the morocco case with the seven-per-cent solution had stayed in its regular place so far.

It was by pure determination, and the promise of French toast, that he had managed to drag Holmes out of his room to take breakfast with him that morning.  
Watson studied the paper, trying to think of a way to get Holmes' mind distracted before the downfall, when a certain article caught his attention:

"Mysterious disappearance of priceless chalice"

He started reading the article, which detailed the circumstances of a theft that had happened in Paris the day before. As he read, he made various noises, until the desired result was procured.

"I say Watson, what on earth could possibly have you so interested, as to interrupt a man while he is pondering the meaning of life?"

Watson looked up to see Holmes squinting in annoyance. "Well you had better look for yourself, old chap. I do believe the matter may be of some interest to you."

He handed the relevant page to Holmes, who quickly scanned the article in question.

Holmes mumbled as he read "Huh. No traces? Pft. Parisian twits. _Imbeciles! _Air vent too small for any man to pass… no other entry point into the room, door securely locked. No trace of sabotage on the safe. Humph."

As Holmes put the article down, Watson queried: "Remarkable, is it not? Perhaps you should offer your services?"

Holmes scoffed. "Hah! By now, what is the point? No doubt those idiots have obliterated any traces there could possibly have been! Besides, my clients come to me, not the other way around."

Watson rolled his eyes at the detective's vanity, and remarked: "In any case, it seems to me that they have quite the problem in the Continent for the moment."

Holmes, who had been staring pensively out the window, raised his eyes to Watson. "Whatever do you mean Watson?"

"Why it seems that over the past few weeks there have been several remarkable thefts; I distinctly remember reading about one in Spain in the newspaper just last week."

Holmes lit his pipe, and sat in contemplative silence for a few moments.  
"Watson! Do you still keep all the newspapers in the storage cabinet behind the kitchen?"

As he gave an affirmative grunt, he watched Holmes disappear to the kitchen with an amused glint in his eyes.

The sound of breaking crockery, and an enraged shout from Mrs. Hudson announced his return to the living room.  
"Well should the plates not have been stacked quite so high, they wouldn't have fallen down now would they? Only yourself to blame, Nanny!"

Watson chuckled as Holmes came in with an annoyed look on his face, his arms full of newspapers.

As Holmes made his way to the hallway, he shouted over his shoulder, "And bring up some more tea! Nanny." The last part came out as a growl.  
He snatched the page with the article from the table, and the newspaper Watson was reading out of his hands, before disappearing upstairs.

Watson smiled. He didn't mind; he had an appointment with a client in ten minutes in any case.

Anything to keep Holmes' mind busy for a while.

**A/N: This is not only my first Sherlock Holmes fanfic, it is officially my first fanfiction ever! I felt inspired by HolmesWoman's publication of Three, and figured what the heck! Please keep in mind that English is not my first language when reviewing! All ideas, suggestions are welcome!  
This story is finished, I just have some formatting to do. New chapters will be uploaded very soon!  
Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Watson was most surprised to find Holmes already at the breakfast table when he came down.  
He had not seen him for any other meals the day before, and was glad to see that he was in the process of devouring a full English breakfast. "Good morning, Holmes," he saluted his friend as he sat down.

"Ah, Watson. Good morning!" Holmes waited until Mrs. Hudson had brought the doctor his breakfast, and left the room again, before grabbing the black leather file that was lying at his left elbow. "I have found no less than five cases of theft that I believe to be related, and I will say more: I conclude that they were all done by the same person!"

Watson grabbed the file Holmes was holding, leafing through the articles contained within. "Holmes, did you ever stop to think that if I preserve the newspapers, I might actually want them in one piece?"

"Nonsense. Mrs. Hudson uses them to light the fireplace anyway. I can assure you they will not burn any less bright for the loss of one article. "

Watson glared at Holmes, and after perusing the articles, exclaimed: "Honestly Holmes, you cannot be serious about thinking that this is all the same person? First of all, he would need to be very lucky to pull off all of these high profile thefts without even being spotted! Several of the burglaries were never even noticed until one or several days afterwards!"

"I would lean more towards very skilled, my dear Watson. It seems that we are dealing with quite the artist here. There is something about these thefts; it's quite difficult to explain. A certain way of operating. A certain... _signature_, if you will."

"And the locations! Rome six weeks ago, Barcelona five weeks ago. Then again two weeks later Bilbao, and now Paris?? On top of that, it is not even all the same type of item! There are mostly jewels, and then this chalice in Paris; that I can understand, but what about the will that went missing in Bilbao? I honestly do not see how you link these together."

"Watson, surely by now you know me better than to question my deductions? It is very simple: in Bilbao the man was hired to procure the documents for someone else."

Watson laughed, determined to get him to further investigate the matter. "I will say even more, Holmes! I am willing to wager that these crimes are not related!"

Holmes smirked. "Well, well, always a gambling man, eh? Very well, I accept your wager." He calmly gathered up the articles and put them back in the file, closing it with a snap. "What shall the stakes be?"

Watson replied: "Dinner? I hear the Royale is not bad. Although I must say; I will not accept anything but clear evidence that one person has committed all these crimes! As you have very little information to go on, I do not see how you would manage to do that!"

"Elementary, Watson. As these are all cities with a port, the person is clearly travelling by ship. It seems quite a touristy route, I would wager that it is coming from the Americas, and it would only make sense that its next port of call would be London. I shall merely enquire about ships that have that route, on those specific dates, and then request the passenger manifest. I am sure that will be a great step towards unmasking our thief!"

Watson blanched at the logic the detective presented him with, however still reached out his hand. "Very well. Do you accept the terms?"

Holmes smiled and grasped his hand. "I accept!" Watson was delighted to see the fire of energy in his eyes; his mind already going over the problem from every angle possible. Surely that alone was worth the price of a dinner? He usually ended up paying the bill when they went out anyway! (Holmes tended to be quite forgetful when it came to things like that.)

Holmes rubbed his hands together in glee: "Fabulous! I am looking forward to that! I shall set to writing this letter immediately, we should have some news by this afternoon!"

As Watson turned to leave, he heard Holmes call out to him: "Don't think for a moment that I don't realize that you did this to keep me busy, mother hen.."  
Watson merely smiled, and closed the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

In the afternoon there came a message that two ships had been in those ports around the times of the thefts: one freighter that was set to return by the same ports, and the other, indeed a passenger ship coming from the United States of America.

Holmes was most pleased to confirm that that ship was currently on the way to London, and would be arriving three days later. He took no small pleasure in informing Watson of the news.

Watson merely smiled, and questioned Holmes: "But what of the freighter? Are you not pursuing that possibility?"

"No" answered Holmes. "That freighter only makes the same trajectory back and forth. A thief on that would not have needed to commit the crimes in that order, as they would be visiting the same cities again shortly. Also, it is not wise to stick around for too long after committing such a high profile crime; he would not wish to show his face in that same city again for some time after that!"

"So what will be your next step? How will you obtain the passenger list? Surely if you need to send to America for it, it will not be here before the ship docks in London?"

Holmes thought for a moment, strumming his violin, and smiled. "Did I ever tell you about Charles Depardieu, whom I met while I was helping the Cardinal with that embarrassing little problem he had? He is a man of some importance in the French government, and will gladly help me with any question I put to him. He owes me quite a favour. I know for a fact that the French government keeps copies on record of all the passenger lists of ships that come to port in France. I shall send him a telegram immediately, and hope to hear from him soon."

Holmes spent the remainder of the day going back over the articles again and again, making sketches of possible solutions as to how the thefts were made, only to throw down his pen with a disgusted sound, crying, "How am I to make any sense of this with barely any data or facts?"

When Watson merely chuckled at his friend's predicament, Holmes shot him an annoyed look, and secluded himself in his room, where Watson could hear him pacing in front of the fire, no doubt smoking pipe after pipe, so that come morning, you would barely be able to see anything in the room.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon of the next day that Mrs. Hudson came to knock at Holmes door holding a telegram in his name. Holmes had snatched the telegram out of her hands and slammed the door in her face before she could even utter a word.

The old landlady harrumphed and went back downstairs, muttering about unmannered detectives.

Watson, who had heard the sound of the door from his room, knocked on Holmes' door and entered. He immediately walked through to open a window, and when he spotted Holmes, sitting at his desk, exclaimed "Good God Holmes, did you not sleep at all?"  
When this garnered no response, he ventured "So, anything of interest in the telegram?"

Holmes mumbled "I'm not sure" as his eyes went over the enclosed passenger list. "There do not seem to be many men travelling alone on this list, which is what I was looking for. I shall need to go over it in more detail."

Watson called for tea, opened another window, and sat in the chair opposite Holmes' desk. As Mrs. Hudson came in with the tea, he suggested, "Maybe he is accompanied by a woman. They could be posing as a married couple, or he could actually be married of course."  
Watson thanked the landlady and poured the tea.

Holmes looked up with a mischievous smile. "Does that mean that you admit defeat, and agree that it is indeed one person who committed those crimes?"

Watson bristled. "I admit no such thing!"

Holmes interjected, "Yes you do!"

"I do not!"

"You just did!"

"I am merely attempting to assist you in your thought process, with which... HOLMES! How many times do I have to tell you to not give Gladstone any sugar lumps?" Holmes gave him what Watson had come to refer to as "the puppy look".

"He likes them!"

"Of course he likes them; that is not the point! It is not good for him! One of these days he will perish from a bad liver, that is of course if you don't manage to kill him with one of your experiments before that! Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"

Watson sighed as Holmes was absorbed in the list before him once more, and seemed oblivious to anything happening around him.

Holmes absent-mindedly reached for his teacup, managing to grab it on the third try.

Watson rolled his eyes, and stirred his tea, scratching Gladstone behind the ears.

All of a sudden Holmes seemed to choke on his tea, coughing and spluttering.

Watson looked up to see him recover, eyes watering. "Are you all right?"

Holmes waved him away, mumbling "Quite all right, never mind… By God! Is it possible? It can't be! No, it must be! I need to think about this." He jumped up, lit his pipe, grabbed his violin, and started pacing in front of the fire once more.

Watson looked on, quite dumbfounded. "I gather you found something of interest?"

Holmes was muttering "Is it possible; is it possible?"

"Is what possible? Really Holmes, if you keep doing that, you will wear a hole in the carpet!"

Still not getting any reaction, he finished his tea, and settled in for a wait.  
He was quite used to Holmes locking himself off from the world when pondering a problem.

Just as he was about to leave, Holmes cried out, "It must be! Yes, the more I think of it, the more certain I am! Watson, I have found our culprit!"

Watson looked on curiously as Holmes put the passenger list in front of him and pointed out a name to him, shouting, "Voila!".

Watson blinked in confusion, before it dawned on him what Holmes was implying.  
He promptly burst out laughing. "Holmes, you cannot be serious!"

Holmes glared at him, "As I have explained to you before: when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth!"

Watson laughed, "But you have not eliminated all the other possibilities! What about all the other people on that boat?"

Holmes knocked out his pipe in the ashtray. "Watson, I am convinced I have found the person in question; I do believe we can expect a visitor two days from now!"

Watson was still laughing quietly, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes: "Really Holmes, I had no idea you were this desperate to win that bet!"

"Laugh now Watson, but you will see! _Quand celui qui rit le dernier a fini de rire, personne ne rigole plus!"_

Watson gave a final chuckle, before glancing back to the list. There, the third name from the bottom, was Ms. I. Adler.

**A/N: _Quand celui qui rit le dernier a fini de rire, personne ne rigole plus! (Literally it means, When the one who has the last laugh is finished laughing, nobody else is laughing any more. Or: He who has the last laugh, laughs loudest)_**


	4. Chapter 4

As Watson walked into the dining room two days later, only to find Holmes once more sitting at the breakfast table, he stopped dead in his tracks. He tried to hide his smile behind his hand, faking a cough as he sat down across from the detective.

"Good morning Watson"

"Good morning Holmes" He buttered his toast, desperately trying to suppress the grin playing around the edges of his mouth.

Holmes sipped his tea, giving the doctor an annoyed look over the edge of the cup.

After Watson once more tried to stifle a laugh with a cough, Holmes remarked, "Really Watson, it seems that you are either coming down with quite a dreadful cold, or that you find something particularly amusing this morning. Somehow, I suspect the latter."

Watson finally gave up, bursting out in laughter. "I do apologize Holmes, but you seem to be putting a lot of effort into a matter that is only a possibility at best!"

Holmes was freshly bathed, cleanly shaven, with his hair combed back. Dressed in his best clothes, one who knew him would suppose he was expecting the king himself.

"I know you think highly of the lady in question, but..."

"But what? I have not seen her since our case for the king of Bohemia, I merely wish to make a good first impression."

"How can it be a first impression if you have met before?"

"I was in disguise at the time; this will be the first time we speak to each other without ulterior motive."

"Seeing as you suspect her of being in London for a burglary, I would hardly say that qualifies as a lack of ulterior motive?"

"More than suspect, my friend. I am certain she is the perpetrator. She has proven her intelligence and wit before. There is not a doubt in my mind she is capable of committing these crimes."

"How do you know she will come?"

"She will come..." Holmes smirked "She cannot resist the challenge of letting me know she is in town before proceeding with her planned theft."

"And what will you do about it?"

"I will let her know I suspect her, and persuade her to not go through with her plans."

"What?"

"I have no desire to report her to the police. That wouldn't be nearly as amusing as seeing if she actually calls off her plans or not. Besides, as long as I am not involved in any of the investigations, it is of no concern to me whether they catch her or not."

Watson chuckled. "Well, I can honestly say I will regret not being there for that little conversation. Alas, I have a prior engagement this afternoon. I shall look forward to hearing your proof, if you manage to provide it... By the way, where will you receive her?"

"In my room of course!"

Watson merely chuckled as Holmes pursed his lips.  
He looked on with an amused smile as Holmes spent the remainder of the morning straightening out his room, so at least it looked a bit presentable. Holmes had to ask Mrs. Hudson twice to clean the room, because she did not believe him the first time. It did not take her very long to appear with two scullery maids after that, and Holmes winced as they went about it, making sure they did not disturb his belongings any more than they should.

It was near teatime when finally Mrs. Hudson announced a visitor.

**A/N Cliffhanger I know! :)  
I just loved the fact that Holmes immediately started washing after Irene appeared in the movie, I just had to put a reference to that somewhere in here! Hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter will be longer, and finally has the appearance of Irene!! Yay!**


	5. Chapter 5

_It was near teatime when finally Mrs. Hudson announced a visitor._

Holmes stood up from his chair in front of the fire to greet her as Mrs. Hudson took her coat.

She looked absolutely radiant, in a forest green dress with cream details. Her hair was pinned up, with a feathered bonnet, which she was taking down as she came in.

She was studying his face for a reaction, but it did not display any emotion, merely a welcoming smile, and was that amusement dancing behind his eyes? She took off her gloves, and reached out a hand to greet him. "Mr. Holmes! What a pleasure to see you once more!"

"Ms. Adler, the pleasure is all mine!" He bowed over her hand and pressed a kiss to her fingers, catching a whiff of her perfume. It was an intoxicating scent, musky and sensual. "What a remarkable perfume you are wearing! Picked it up in Paris, no doubt?"

Irene flashed him a flirtatious smile. "Why yes Mr. Holmes, how on earth did you know? Do you like it?"

"It suits you perfectly!"

She blushed prettily at the compliment, and shyly cast her eyes down.

Holmes smirked at the performance she gave. "But please, do sit down. Mrs. Hudson shall be up with tea shortly. I was expecting you!"

She faltered somewhat at this, her suspicious gaze sharp on Holmes, who seemed oblivious to it, charging his pipe. It was only a second before she recovered. "You were expecting me? How did you even know I was here?"

Holmes hummed as he lit his pipe: "Hmm, indeed. I happened to notice your name on the passenger manifest of your ship. Though I must admit to being confused; I believe that when we parted, you were Mrs. Norton. I do hope nothing unfortunate has befallen Mr. Norton?"

Irene seemed to be taking in the room around her, but Holmes knew better. She was trying to figure out how to answer him, wondering how much he knew. He observed her from under his eyelashes, imagining the wheels turning in her mind, eagerly awaiting her next move.

"Oh no, we divorced a couple of months ago." She waved her hand in dismissal. "My, what a cosy room you have here!"

Holmes smiled at her evasion of the subject. "Hmmm. This room is devoted to my work, though I do spend most of my time here, work or not."

A silence fell after that.

Holmes felt as if he were at the start of one of his boxing matches. Two opponents in their corners, staring at each other, sizing the other up, anticipating his next move.

Just as he realized he was sporting an amused grin, Mrs. Hudson bustled into the room carrying a tea tray.

Ms. Adler thanked the landlady, smiling radiantly. "Allow me" she intervened as Holmes started to reach for the teapot"

Holmes nodded.

"Sugar or milk?"

"Neither thank you"

He accepted the cup she handed to him with a pleasant smile, and set it on the table in front of him.

She noticed he had a nice smile, and automatically smiled back at him "Do tell me though, Mr. Holmes, why on earth was my ship of such interest to you?"

Holmes pursed his lips, keeping a keen eye on her for any reaction.

She noticed his scrutiny, and steeled herself, determined to not give him the pleasure.

"Why it seems that you have been keeping somewhat dangerous company lately"

"You don't say? How so?"

"Well... a passenger of your ship seems to have had a hand in several thefts in Europe. First in Rome, then Barcelona, Bilbao and Paris."

"Oh dear! How dreadful!"

Holmes smiled. "Yes, quite. It makes me wonder though, as all the people on your ship are quite wealthy, what would be his reason to keep stealing?"

Irene sighed. "Oh I think it might just be a hobby. Aristocratic life does become so tedious so very fast..." She drifted off, becoming aware of Holmes' eyes on her. "Hypothetically speaking of course" she added with a smile.

"Of course," Holmes agreed. "In any case, it is only logical to assume that the thief has a plan for London as well."

"Do you think so?"

"I do. Of course if he does, I will be waiting for him."

Irene giggled girlishly "My, he would do well to be worried!"

Holmes leaned forward in his seat, hands folded on his knees. He stared right at Irene, a foreboding look in his eyes.

She stilled and stared back at him over the edge of her teacup.

"He would do well to reconsider, Ms. Adler. I am not to be underestimated!"

She lowered her eyes, sat back and thoughtfully sipped her tea.

After a few moments of silence she ventured, "Mr. Holmes, I... I am sure that he wouldn't dream of underestimating a man of your reputation."

"In that case he should know that I am on his track already, since several days ago. After all, he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day!".

She stared at him, mouth slightly open in shock.

As she recovered, she smiled at him. A genuine smile, that drew his attention to her mouth, to her lips.

He dragged his eyes back to hers as she spoke.

"I am sure he would take that advice to heart, Mr. Holmes"

Holmes smiled. "Wonderful!"

He picked up his cup of tea once more. "So I understand that you were born in New Jersey? How long did you actually live in London before returning there with your late husband?"

Irene laughed.

Holmes smiled at her, she had an infectious laugh.

She looked fondly at him, and took the gesture for what it was. A truce. For now.

* * *

They chatted amiably for another hour about everything and nothing. Holmes enjoyed their easy banter, relishing the chance to match wits with her.

When she stood to leave, he found that he had spent a most enjoyable afternoon with her, filled with laughter and interesting conversation.

"Ms. Adler," he ventured, as he stood up, "Would you perhaps care to join Dr. Watson and me for dinner tomorrow night? I do not believe you know him, but I know he would be delighted to make your acquaintance. As your ship leaves the morning after, it might be a nice way to spend your last evening in London."

She gave him a radiant smile. "Why, I would be delighted, Mr. Holmes!"

"Wonderful! Shall I make reservations at the Royale?"

"My favourite!" He went to retrieve her coat, and helped her to put it on.

"I have never been there before, but have heard great reviews. I am even more looking forward to it now! Seven o'clock?"

"Perfect!"

He smiled, and once more bent to press a kiss to her fingers. "Thank you for your visit, Ms. Adler"

She smiled, and their eyes locked.

"I am very much looking forward to tomorrow, Mr. Holmes" she said, with a mischievous look in her eyes.

As she stepped through the door, and he closed it behind her, an amused smile touched his lips.

It did not leave him for several hours.

**A/N There it is!! The long awaited appearance of our dear Ms. Adler! Chapter 6 will be coming up tomorrow, and will be the end of this story! Let me know what your thoughts are! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

As the doctor and the detective walked back home from the restaurant the next day, Watson remarked: "Dinner was exceptional, was it not?"

Holmes hummed in agreement. "Yes, we shall have to go there more often."

They continued to walk for some time.

"Thank you for dinner, by the way. Glad to see you lose a bet for once, if only through lack of evidence." He smiled when Holmes merely grunted in response. "I am sorry that Ms. Adler did not make it, Holmes. I should have liked to meet her."

Holmes was silent, lost in thought.

At half past seven a note had come from Ms. Adler, explaining that she was not feeling well, and could not make it to dinner.  
He had stuffed the note in his pocket, and the two friends had enjoyed the meal all the same.  
The lamb really was quite superb.

Somehow, he felt cheated. A ridiculous notion, he knew. Tomorrow she would sail out of his life once more.

As they mounted the stairs to their rooms, he did not feel like going to bed just yet "How about a nightcap, old chap?"

Watson smiled "Thank you Holmes, I would love a glass of that brandy you have there".

As Holmes entered his room, he breathed deeply. He could still smell a trace of her perfume in the air. He was on his way to the liquor cabinet when he froze in his tracks.

Watson walked up to him. "What is wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost?" He then noticed the picture frame standing on the table next to the tiger rug where Holmes tended to fall asleep.

"What is that?" Watson picked up the frame. "Why, I have never noticed this before! It is the picture of her that you received from the king of Bohemia last year! I did not even realize you still had it?"

Holmes chuckled and moved to sit in his desk chair. "That, my dear Watson, is because I keep it in my safe!"

Watson hesitated for a few moments, then walked over to the safe, and pulled it, only to find it securely locked. "Are you sure about that?"

"Quite sure. You said yourself you never saw it until today!"

"You might want to check if everything else is still in there!"

"Don't worry, I am quite confident that not a thing is missing. This is merely a message." He smiled fondly "The game is afoot!"

"Indeed" said Watson. He poured two glasses of brandy and brought one over to Holmes. "Well, old boy, it seems I owe you dinner after all!"

Holmes chuckled, but refrained from comment. He grabbed the black file sitting on his desk, and with a flourish, penned her name across the front of it. He chuckled: "I have a feeling I shall be adding many articles to this in the future..."

Watson raised his glass in salute. "A toast! To worthy adversaries!"

Holmes raised his too. "To the unforgettable Ms. Adler!"

"To the woman!"

"The Woman!"

**A/N: Finished! I am so very proud to have finished my very first fanfiction! Thank you all so much for reading, let me know what you thought of it! I was planning to make this a series, trying to explain all the questions raised by the film. All ideas or suggestions are welcome! **


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